Murray sends Brighton through in extra time against West Brom – report & highlights

2 weeks ago

FA Cup: West Bromwich Albion 1-3 Brighton and Hove Albion highlights

Glenn Murray came off the bench to score twice as Brighton reached the fifth round of the FA Cup at the expense of West Brom.

After a goalless first meeting, Kyle Bartley put the hosts in front in the replay at The Hawthorns – hooking the ball in from behind the goal – before Florin Andone levelled for Brighton with a smart finish.

Andone was lucky not to be sent off in the first half after catching Sam Field in the face with a flailing elbow in an incident unpunished by referee Paul Tierney.

West Brom then went down to 10 men in extra time when Hal Robson-Kanu limped off after they had made all their substitutes.

And the Premier League side took charge as top scorer Murray entered the action to score his 11th and 12th goals of the season, firing the Seagulls into a fifth-round tie with Derby County.

‘What a curious goal’ – Bartley puts Baggies ahead against Brighton

Clinical Murray secures the win

Brighton had 24 shots without scoring in the first meeting between these sides and once again they were unable to finish off chances to settle the game in normal time.

With Murray watching from the bench, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Yves Bissouma and Viktor Gyokeres all forced saves from West Brom goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.

Leon Balogun should have headed them in front from a corner on 34 minutes, hitting the bar from four yards out.

And Chris Hughton’s men almost paid for their profligacy as Bartley put West Brom in front in bizarre fashion with just 10 minutes left.

Wes Hoolahan swung in a wicked free-kick, Dan Burn’s header looped into the air and Bartley muscled Balogun out of the way to volley home from behind the back post.

But just moments later the visitors were grateful for Andone’s intervention as he pounced on a defensive mix-up to fire home an equaliser and force extra time.

Having made all their substitutes, West Brom went down to 10 men when Robson-Kanu, who had earlier hit the bar with a fine volley, had to exit the play at the start of extra time.

Murray then came off the bench to punish the Championship side, bundling home Jurgen Locadia’s low cross with his first touch.

As West Brom tired, Murray made the game safe with a clinical finish into the top corner past Bond.

With only seven Premier League teams left in the FA Cup, the draw has opened up for Hughton’s side to make an impact in this season’s competition.

‘We made hard work of it’ – what they said

Brighton boss Chris Hughton: “We are delighted to make it through but we made hard work of it. We got into good positions but found ourselves 1-0 down and it felt like it was going to be one of those days.

“You need a goal to get back in it and then the tie turned a bit and we showed our quality. I knew we would push right to the end but we had ample opportunities before that.”

On goalscorer Glenn Murray: “He came on and wanted to make an impact in the game and that’s what happened. We need to spread the goals around a bit more but if you said would I rather have someone in form and scoring goals then of course I would.

“We’ll have to show more against Derby.”

West Brom boss Darren Moore: “It is a disappointing result but I have to be pleased with the performance. The younger ones who came in showed that they have grown in stature tonight.

“It looked like we were going to win it. We scored so late in the game but it only takes a second to score a goal.

“The turning point in the game was losing Hal Robson-Kanu to injury as extra time was a bridge too far for us with 10 men.

“Chris Hughton was able to bring on some top players. They are a good team and they made the extra man count.”